Boots
by Ash Ninja
Summary: Takes place after 'Denial'. After the Fate mission Megan buys a special gift for Superboy but when she goes to give it to him she discovers him in critical pain. Supermartian. Fluffy one-shot.


**_Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice._**

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**Boots  
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Megan bit down on her lower lip nervously as she paced back and forth in front of the TV in the living room, hands wringing together restlessly. Once in a while she would stop, take a deep breath and glance at the couch before shaking her head and continue her pacing. The martian had been like this for the past hour after she had returned from shopping at the Happy Harbor mall with Robin and Kaldur. She had only bought one item, which was still sitting perfectly in it's plastic bag.

She was the one who had suggested to Kaldur and Robin that they journey to the outlet mall. Mainly and specifically to seek out the item in the bag. Which was not for her, but for Superboy.

The other day the team had, without Robin, gone on a mission from Red Tornado to the Tower of Fate to find Kent Nelson. They inevitably had to prevent the helmet of Doctor Fate from falling into the hands of Abra Kadabra and Klarion the Witch Boy. The mission had gone successfully well... Despite one thing.

Megan closed her eyes, revisiting the terrifying memory of Superboy dangling off the side of that cliff. She could still feel the heat of the hot lava that had been waiting below to melt the flesh off of him. Luckily, only his boots had been melted off instead of his feet...

_"Argh, those were my favorite pair of boots!"_ Megan had heard him bellow angrily from on top of the cliff before Kaldur had helped him back up.

The martian snapped out of her revive and once again looked at the plastic bag laying on the couch. She smiled, walking over and gingerly pick up the bag by the handles. She glanced around the room to check to see if she was alone. Seeing that she was, Megan sighed in relief and opened the bag to reveal a large white and red shoebox inside.

She, Robin and Kaldur had almost ran around the entire mall to find the one shoe store that sold the same exact brand of boots that Superboy wore. Sadly that was the _easy _part. The hard part was trying to figure out what size he was.

Robin had suggested Kaldur try the boots on since he and Superboy were both practically the same seize in stature.

Megan could still remember the begrudging look on the Atlantean's face as he slipped the shoes on and walked around in them for a few minutes. She had to admit that the boots weren't their leader's style, knowing he preferred to be barefoot. Despite the strange looks the trio had received around town due to this fact. Once Kaldur was done walking around in the boots he suggested they get the boots in a seize smaller just in case they has guessed wrong.

Megan wholeheartedly agreed with him before finding the requested seize and paying for the boots at the cash register with her own money.

Now all she had to do was give them to Superboy... If she just gathered up the courage to.

In truth, Megan had gotten over most of her bashfulness when she around the clone. But this situation was entirely different. Or, as she learned from the previous night's special on Gilmore Girls: by giving the boots to Superboy it would obviously symbolize her more than friendly feelings towards him.

Although, she was quite sure that he was already aware of them.

"I think..." Megan said out loud.

"You think what?" asked, a curious voice.

The martian jumped in surprise, quickly hiding the bag behind her back and turned around to face the newcomer. She sighed in relief to see it was only Artemis. "Thank Mars it's just you!"

The archer quirked her brow at Megan. "Oh? Why is that?"

"O-Oh! No, no reason." Megan stammered, indiscreetly trying to hide her potential gift.

"What do you have there?" Artemis tried to peer behind the martian, who began to back up away from the smaller girl until she felt the back of her legs hit the coffee table. "Alright, Megs, cough it up."

Megan's forehead wrinkled and said, "But I'm not eating anything."

"It's a figure of speech, what I'm saying is: show me what you're hiding!" Before Megan could reply Artemis lurched forward, lightly pushing passed her and snatched the bagged box from her hands.

"No! Artemis, please!" Megan pleaded. But it was already too late the archer was already digging through the bag and opened the shoebox.

Artemis looked up at her with a knowing twinkle in her eyes. "What's this? Combat boots? Now, who do we know that wears this kind of shoes, hm?"

"Artemis..." Megan mumbled, blushing.

"No, sorry, I can rock a lot of looks but these I can't. Now Superboy on the other hand..."

"Please return them to me." Megan held her hands out for the box, staring at the archer with wide, innocent eyes. Her bottom lip quivered.

"Oh no... Not the puppy eyes! How did you learn that? It took me half of my life to learn that!" Artemis groaned. Megan stared harder. "Oh... Oh, okay!" The box was thrust back into Megan's green hands.

Megan held the box tightly against her chest. "Thank you, Artemis." The archer waved her hand absently.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't look at me like that again."

"Will do... Hey, I thought you had already left for home." Megan said, bagging up the shoebox again.

Artemis sighed, "I was leaving but when I passed Superboy's room I heard some moaning and groaning coming from inside. I thought you were the reason."

"For what?"

"The moaning and groaning, apparently not." Artemis crossed her arms over chest.

Megan blinked and replied, "I don't follow."

"Oh, never mind, then." Artemis started for the briefing room but then paused, turned back and said, "I would check up on Superboy if I were you."

"Why don't you?" Megan inquired.

"Because he and I don't get along... Actually he and most people don't get along."

"So you think he and I do?"

Artemis shrugged, smiling sheepishly at Megan. "He never yells at you... or tells you to leave him alone when you two are in the same room. Go figure."

"I see..."

"Think of checking up on him as excuse to give him your present." Artemis called over her shoulder, walking out of the Cave. "I'll see ya tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Artemis! Thank you!" Megan replied, a new spark of confidence lighting up inside of her.

The martian walked, practically hovered down the hallway towards the rooming section of the Justice Cave. At the end of the corridor was a single metal door. Superboy's room. As she came close to her objective she could hear a low, loud groan on the other side of the door. A concerned feeling suddenly washed over Megan.

Artemis had been telling her the truth.

"Superboy? Are you alright in there? It's me, Megan!" She silently scolded herself for being so loud.

Worriedly, Megan tucked the shoebox under her arm and lightly rapped on the door. Once again the moan traveled through the door. Wasting no time, she reached for the passcode lock and used to telepathy to unlock the door. It slid open with metallic clang.

She stepped inside to the room. The lamp on his nightstand was on, providing enough light for her to see clearly. The first thing she saw was Conner laying stiffly on his bed. Megan hesitantly watched as his back arched and he gasped soundlessly, his face grimaced in obvious pain.

For a moment Megan thought to leave Conner to his privacy. She knew that he did not like showing any signs of weakness or vulnerability to anyone. When she was hurt, she always sought out some dark corner for herself to wait it out or until Uncle J'onn forced her to allow his aid. Megan even took a step or two back to where she came when another soft moan came from the bed. Enough, she thought, was enough.

The height of Superboy's bed was waist high, or at least up to her waist. Megan placed the shoebox on the corner of the bed and levered herself up- lightly so she wouldn't jostle him more than she had to. Leaving the shoebox where it was, she crawled up onto the bed until she sat near him.

"What... What are you doing in here?" Conner groaned.

Megan tucked her hair behind her ear and replied, "You're in pain, I'm here to help."

"Don't want it." He growled, his face perspiring heavily with sweat. He suddenly twitched in pain again and groaned. "It won't stop."

"Where does it hurt?" Megan reached out to touch his shoulder, he flinched slightly but did nothing to stop her.

He said nothing.

"Superboy, I can't make it stop hurting unless you tell me where it hurts." She said gently.

The living weapon squeezed his eyes shut, a few more tremors of pain shuddering through him before he sighed and said, "My... My lower back. Something... It started throbbing with a burning sensation during the mission, but it got worse when we came back from the mission with Fate."

"I see..." Megan said observantly. "Do you think this happened when you were falling into the pit?"

"I don't know!" He moaned, his back arched again.

She knew telekinesis couldn't do much in this department of usefulness more than concentrating on the effects of herbal medicine, speed healing, and setting bones - and in that, Megan had little to no experience in. Armed with nothing but the knowledge she was taught by her mother and the Priestesses back on Mars, Megan had to sort out how to help Conner. Coming to a decision, Megan set to work. She laid her hands on the side of Conner's torso and give it a light push.

"First things first, you need to lay down on your front, not your back." Conner didn't argue, helping her a bit as she rolled him over until he laid face down on the bed.

Slowly she pulled up the back of his tee-shirt to inspect the damage. Another spasm twisted the impressive muscles of his lower back, where various second degree burns with slightly partial thickness surrounded a large whelping bruise. The flesh strained and knotted beneath the tender skin, forcing his spine to twist unnaturally to the side. Megan bit back a horrified gasp.

"Well?" Conner gasped. "How does it look?"

Megan thought about how one of their friends would describe it. "Well... it's not pretty."

He groaned, burying his face in his pillow. She bit her lower lip, knowing that she had to find another way to ease his pain. To help him. Gingerly she slipped her hands under the fabric of his shirt and tugged at it persistently.

"This needs to come all the way off... In order for me to help you further." Megan instructed sternly.

"But... But I can't get up." His voice was muffled slightly by the pillow.

"Please, if you can just get on your knees for a moment, I can use telepathy to hold you up and take your shirt off." She said, softly.

Conner lifted his face up from the pillow and asked, "Why not use your telepathy to pick me up entirely?"

"Because that's - Oh, hello, Megan! That's a brilliant idea!" Megan held her hand out towards the young boy and used her telepathic powers to carefully lift him off of the bed. "Lift your arms up for me, please." She watched him grimace yet disdainfully move his arms over his head. Megan slowly slipped the rest of his shirt off of him and set it off to the side of the bed and lay him back down on the bed.

"Now what?" Conner groaned.

Megan bit her lower lip again. "I... I think I should go get Red Tornado now."

She started to move off of the bed but Conner moaned. "No! He'll tell the League and then Batman or Canary will tell the others and then they'll never shut up about this!"

"Superboy, I'm sorry but-" She paused in mid-sentence. A vague memory of her mother once rubbing her down with soothing oil after a minor burn, and the bottle of medicated liniment tucked away in the top drawer of her dressed popped into her head. Megan abruptly sat up and hopped off of the bed.

"Where are you going?" He called after her, followed by another groan.

Megan opened the door and replied, "To get something to ease the pain."

"No, not Red Tornado!"

"Don't worry, something better." The martian then hurried out of the room, heading for her own. Quickly she typed in her passcode and ran into her bedroom over to her dresser. She opened the two top drawers and tore through them until she found a glass bottle filled with a golden green liquid sealed tightly with a cork. "Yes!" She cheered, clutching the bottle to her chest and ran back to Superboy's room.

Returning to the agonized boy in bed, Megan placed the shoebox down onto the floor and climbed back to her placed next to Conner's laying side.

She struggled with the cork for a few moments but manged to pry to cork off with a loud _pop. _She put a few drops of the liquid of the bottle on her hands and rubbed it into her skin. When she felt the familiar warmth begin to seep into her hand, indicating that it was indeed some liniment of some sort, she splattered it liberally on Conner's back and resumed her work.

"You sure, you know what you're doing?" Conner asked, his voice tight with pain. "... Never mind, there's no one else I can trust."

"Uh-huh..." Megan replied, deeply pressing her thumbs into his back. "If you did trust people you would ask for help sooner."

"I do trust people... I trust you at least." Conner chuckled, though his laughter was broken by a gasp as another muscle spasmed. Megan moved up where it seemed the worst and poured more liniment.

She had heard from her Uncle J'onn that it sometimes helped to distract a person in pain. "Superboy, may I ask you a question?"

Taking his grunt as a consent, Megan set the liniment aside in fear of irritating his skin with it and rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you believe in magic yourself?" she asked.

Conner drew in a deep breath and shifted his head to the side. "I guess so. I mean, why not? From what I saw from yesterday, I'll believe in anything."

"Good, that's good to be open minded about that kind of stuff." Megan put more pressure on a certainly tight area. He sighed heavily. Her massage seemed to have some effect, he wasn't tensing in pain so much anymore and his voice was almost back to normal. "Unlike Wally..."

"At least he's not so skeptic about it now. Then again, you can't blame him, the dolt." Conner coughed, covering his mouth with the back of his fist.

Megan shifted her position, moving to lay down on her side facing him while continuing to rub his back with her hand. He groaned and shook his head. She stopped. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No... No, just... slower." Relieved, she began rubbing his back in slow, small circles with the palm her hand, her fingertips stroking his sun-tanned skin. Cover in a cold sheen of sweat.

"Better?" Megan asked softly.

He turned his head toward her and granted her with a wry smile. "Better than nothing... Megan?"

"Yes?" Her fingers still ever so slightly in their rhythm. Conner grunted, urging her to continue again.

"What was that did you put on my bed earlier? I couldn't lift my head but it looked like a box or something like that." Megan's chocolate brown eyes widen. The boots, she thought, how on Mars could she forget them? "Megan?"

"I..." She swallowed the dry lump in her throat, her tongue suddenly feeling very thick. "It was - _is _a shoebox."

"Why did you bring that in here?" Conner quirked his brow at her.

Megan pulled her hand away from his back, ignoring his groans of protests and slipped off the bed to retrieve the bagged shoebox from beside the nightstand. She turned back towards the bed, pulling the heavy shoebox out of the bag before stepping back into the Boy of Steel's line of sight. Slowly Megan opened the lid of the box and stepped closer, showing him the boots.

His eyebrows pulled down together in confusion. "What's this? For me?" Taking in a deep breath the martian blushed and nodded.

"Yesterday back on the cliff your favorite pair of boots melted off of your feet. So... I got you new ones from the mall. That's where I had been all day today." She explained, soft spoken.

"Thank you." Conner mumbled, though his tone was gruff she could hear a touch of sincerity in his voice. "Will they fit?"

"We can worry about that tomorrow." Megan smiled slightly, closing the box and setting it back on the nightstand. "Am I allowed to stay?"

"Yeah." He whispered quietly. Then he hissed quickly, "I don't care."

Her smile brightened as she crawled back onto the bed next to him, moving her hand to rest against his back once more. Resuming rubbing circles against the hot skin. She kept this up until she felt his breathing slow and he laid motionless on the bed. Asleep.

With a soft sigh, she leaned forward and kissed his bare shoulder. "Goodnight, Superboy."

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Conner sighed tiredly, opening his eyes to meet the content, sleep flushed face of Megan. The muscles of his face softened. The martian must have stayed up all night to make sure he was alright. The pain in his back had not bothered him in the least since last night, though his muscles were stiff and slightly ached from the previous night. And it was all thanks to the sleeping martian in front of him.

His gaze drifted over to the nightstand, where the shoebox laid waiting. Conner looked back down at Megan for a long moment before he slowly sat up and slid off the bed. Soundlessly dropping to the floor he shuffled over to the nightstand.

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"Megan?" Megan felt someone shake her shoulder lightly. The martian sighed, rolling over. Whoever it was persistent and shook her harder. "Megan, hey, wake up."

"Mm?" Slowly she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry around the edges and when she lifted her head it felt fuzzy. "Who's there? Why are you in my room?"

"Megan, this is my room." Said a bemused voice.

The martian's vision cleared to see a half-naked Conner standing over her, she sat up slowly and blinked several times at him. "Wha? Is this real life?"

"Yes, it is. And that's a pillow and that's a wall." Conner rolled his eyes.

"Oh... I need to go home now." Megan blushed fiercely and started to climb off the bed. The clone grabbed her arm to prevent her from leaving.

"You are home... You're just in my room." Conner shifted his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly, looking down at his feet.

Megan slapped her hand against her forehead. "Hello, Megan! Of course I am. I'll... I'll just go back to my room then. Sorry, to bother you." She hurried back the clone towards the door, silently scolding herself for acting so stupidly.

"Hey, Megan-" Conner called after her as she stepped out of the room. She turned back around to face him. He smiled wryly at her and pointed down to his feet. Megan glanced down, a bright smile spreading across her lips.

Conner was wearing her boots.

"They're a little a small."

The smile slid off her face, her happiness disappearing. "Oh... I'm sorry." Megan sighed inwardly. "I'll just take them back later then." She started back for her room again.

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you outside when you're done getting ready." Conner said indifferently.

Megan's smile returned, a strong blush spreading across her cheeks. The boots may not have fit but Conner's place in her heart sure did.

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**A/n: This totally popped into my head the moment I saw Conner's boots melt off. Haha strange yet helpful.**

**Reviews would be wonderful and flames aren't.**


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